$3 million settlement after work-site injury

Saturday

Mar 29, 2008 at 2:00 AM

GOSHEN — A Middletown man who was injured on a construction site in 2001 has settled for $3 million after a three-week trial in Orange County Supreme Court. James Cole was working as a diesel mechanic during installation of a sprinkler system in a building at Stewart International Airport in 2001, when a pipe connection came loose, causing the pipe to separate and explode. Cole sustained multiple pelvis and hip fractures; the pipe also pierced his thigh and abdomen. He was hospitalized for 3˝ months.“There were eight-inch bolts embedded in his body,” said Cole’s lawyer, George Levy. “Now he works with a permanent limp.”The settlement between Cole and the general contractor, The Pike Company Inc., and a sub-contractor, SRI Fire Sprinkler Corp.. was reached on the second day of the damage trial, Levy said.Christine Young